IP Address reset?

Keith,

I'm curious as to what you are seeing the IP addresses do? What are they starting at and what are they resetting themselves to? Do I understand correctly that you are just using a hub, not a router or anything special? Are the Cat5 cables your are using store bought or self-crimped?

Thanks,

Hey Matt

My laptop is not finding the DL2 fixtures within the CMA, and if it does, then the IP Address is jumping around.

After soft resets on the DL2 units, the CMA finds the fixtures.

I know enough about what an IP address is but not enough to have any kind of understanding of how to do a work around if there is one.

I will be in need of uploading some content within the next couple of days as well as making a archive backup of content. would love to figure this out prior to leaving the venue i am at with these fixtures this week.

hope that answers you question?
keith

as for cables, i have store bought 25' jumpers and a 150' self made jumper. I used these cables all thru programming and i also have a LAN tester (paladin tools cable checker 1574) that shows my pin config if connections are good or not.

as for hub, i have a netgear 8 port 10/100/1000 mbps gig switch GS608.

again things were great within rehearsals and pre-programming sessions (5 weeks worth)

keith

Keith,

Are you seeing the ip addresses jump between 169.254.x.x and 127.0.0.1? Does this happen right after starting up the fixtures, or after they have been up and running for a while?

I have seen some issues right after start up with the DL2's IP address jumping around between 127.0.0.1 and a 169.254.x.x address. Normally if you leave them alone for a few minutes they will calm down and start working correctly.

Also, are you using wireless internet on your laptop at the same time you are connected to the DL2s through a wired LAN? This has been know to cause issues as well. The CMA doesn't have a way to know which network adaptor to bind itself to. We have some preliminary dev work done to fix this, but remains largely untested at the moment. Hopefully it will be out in the near future.

Thanks,

Yes they are jumping around from 169..... to the 127.... and back. even when i leave them alone they still jump around. in fact last week i had them up and running for about 3 hours then tried to upload some new photos, but after an hour of them doing this and not being able to lock on, we gave up to finish our focus and get ready for soundcheck.

kind of a let down from the LDs point of view.

as for wireless, i keep my wireless card turned off during this time of working with the DL2 units.

so far the only thing i found that has worked and it only works if i go to each light seperating is soft reseting. i would love to go back to the hub device, makes uploading so much faster for me and the clients.

keith

Keith,

Please forgive the tardiness of my reply, I got caught up in a few issues yesterday in the office. Also, please forgive the length of this post, its going to be a bit long.

After talking with a few of the developers around here, there is an issue in our code with switching between different IP addresses that will cause problems with fixture communication in the CMA. Efforts are being made as we speak to clean this code up and hopefull eliminate these problems.

I was able to recreate your issue here in the office today pretty much exactly as you described it. In order to do this, I booted the DL2 with no network connection at all (meaning no Cat5 cable plugged into it). When it booted, the IP address was assigned at 127.0.0.1. This is normal, as this is the default IP address for a computer when no network is connected (essentially its "home"). I then plugged the DL2 into a network that contained no router (meaning it should auto-ip itself to a 169.254.x.x address). After a brief time I saw the fixture in my CMA, but then started to witness the jumping back and forth between IP addresses that you described. Communication with the fixture in CMA didn't work, I couldn't load content or look at the configuration, etc.

I then powered down the fixture, and booted it again, this time with the network connected. After booting, it had a 169.254.x.x IP address, and everything worked as it should in the CMA.

I think the issue here is the state of your network when the DL2s are booted. The DL2s need a good connection right when they boot. They can't be booted first, then plugged into a network (or have the network switch plugged in after they are booted). I would first of all check to make sure you have good link lights on your switch for each one of your fixtures. Also, make sure that the switch is powered on and completely up and running before booting your DL2s. If you are still having issues, trying to swap your switch out for another would be a good troubleshooting measure.

You mentioned that connecting with your laptop directly, then doing a reboot on the computer would make everything work correctly. This is because the network connection was there when the DL2 booted. Making sure the network is in good shape before booting the computers should solve this issue. Also, our next round of software should make the DL2 far less sensitive to the problem.

Please let me know what you find and I'll do my best to help.

Matt

Thank you for your reply. I want to apologize to you for having the mob squad call you on this issue. Our LD called me today and asked how things were going with me & the DL2 units. I told him i was working with you on this issue and that you were getting back to me. Unfortantely, his patience is as big as a pinhead and he made some calls this morning to our vendor as well as our vendor made some calls to you guys in Austin (Richard B.). So again I apologize for the mob squad calling. Since i am not working with fixtures til Friday (taking tuesday - thursday off for family time) and if i had not heard from you by then, i was going to call the office.

Thank you for your reply. It all makes sense as well. I was talking to a Mircosoft IT guy as well yesterday at the venue i was at and mentioned to him my issues. He threw out a thought of making each DL2's Ip address a static address that stays with that fixture during my useage. Like since i have 5 active DL2 units, each IP address within my current setup would stay the same until i returned the fixtures. A possible huge setup process, but it might correct the jumping of IP addresses? But with XP embedded, was not sure on how easy or possible that would be. Just also trying to be helpful in the search for a cure.

I apologize for my lengthy reply.

thanks again for your help. i look forward to the soon upcoming fix.
Keith